Pitch or Ditch for Thursday, May 27

Pitch
or Ditch is a strategy for (ideally) daily mixed leagues in which you
pick up
starters on a day-to-day basis based on how well they are pitching and
their
upcoming matchups, then cut them in favor of new guys the next guy. The
concept
is that the shallower the league, the more quality starting pitching is
available on the free agent wire, so rather than drafting expensive
starters,
it’s better to build a strong offense and bullpen and let the free agent
wire
populate your starting staff during the season. As a bonus, a handful of
“PoD”
guys emerge each year as worth keeping all year long, like Jair Jurrjens
last
year or Cliff Lee in ’08.________________________________________________________________________________

13 Comments

Hey guys,
ok I need some pitching advice…I have Lester, Cueto, Latos, A. Sanchez, G. Gonzalez, Strasburg, & Beckett (DL)
Couple of teams just dropped young pitching: Ely, M Leake, and Chacin…can you rank them and would you drop and of my current staff for any of them…which?

I think I managed to get a good deal for Strasburg and Hanson. He wanted Werth and Swisher, but I managed to get another batter in return to sweeten the deal in my favor. Here is the final deal: Give: Werth and Swisher. Get: Strasburg, Hanson, and Barajas. Barajas will serve as a good upgrade over Kurt Suzuki in the C spot. I’m thinking about taking the deal. What do you think? Thanks for the help.

I need help!!! Should I trade Teixiera and Papelbon for Adam Lind and Elvis Andrus. I am in need of a DH and SS. I currently have Mark Reynolds and Jorge Cantu for 1st base and Jason Barlett for SS and Andrus Jones as my DH. Thanks.

I have Jose Lopez on my bench (12 team vanilla), he stinks! Should I cut my losses and ditch him (no trade partner found yet) or will he get back to his 2009-self together with the rest of the mariner line-up.

I am 2nd in my league at the moment and near the top in most categories. Sadly i am close to the bottom of both whip and era. it puts a real drag on the overall score. Is there a strategy out there, or certain SP or RP pitchers I could acquire to amend this?

Hey guys just made a trade this morning and always respect your opinion. I traded J. Rollins, J. Sanchez, R. Oswalt, and E. Encarcion for D. Pedoria, M. Holiday, M. Tejada and Brett Anderson. He needed pitching bad and I still have Santana, Gallardo, Cain, Pelfrey, Romero and PoD spot. I was real worried about Rollins durability this year and needed help at second. What you think?
-Paul

Absolutely do that deal! Gonzalez is hitting way over his head right now while Price has been for the most part flat out dominant…an ace in the making. Simply put, I have a lot more confidence that Price will roughly maintain his current level of production than I do in Gonzalez.
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jaayoub,

Leake, Ely, Chacin. I’d think about dropping Gio for Leake but would ultimately stay put. Gio’s been on a major role of late and is posting better strikeout numbers than Leake. He also pitches in a more favorable home ballpark.
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Glenn,

Not in love with the deal but I won’t stand in your way from making it. Giving up the best player and taking on a hyped yet somewhat risky Strasburg. Also don’t be surprised if Suzuki finishes the season with comparable numbers to Barajas, so I don’t necessarily view that as a huge upgrade at catcher. That said, this does have the potential to be a win for you, so if you’re in need of pitching I’m fine with it.
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a_garciaiii,

Assuming that there’s currently a lineup spot open for all three of those 1B eligible guys (Tex, Reynolds, Cantu), I definitely wouldn’t make that trade. You’re selling on Tex while his stock is as low as it’s been in years and giving up an elite closer in Papelbon. Andrus is running like crazy but Bartlett is still very solid so it’s not like you’re desperate for a shortstop. Lind is really struggling right now in the AVG department and while I think he’ll finish the season with quality power numbers, he’s still no Teixeira.
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Josh,

Real tough one but I’d still stick with the hitter. Kinsler has been disappointing in the power department but carries enough of a track record for us to believe he’ll turn things around. Plus there’s the position scarcity factor. Youk for Halladay is a trade I’d think long and hard about but Youk continues to hit for plenty of power and is an OBP machine.
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Shane,

Very close call but I prefer the Liriano/Garcia side. Would take Liriano over Hanson and see Lackey to Garcia as pretty much a wash. One could argue that Lackey has the edge but Garcia has been just so consistent. Either way, Hanson to Liriano is at least a slight upgrade in my mind.
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dblbogey,

Both Blanton and Bonderman remain POD guys right now so playing the matchups is the way to go. Bonderman certainly looks like a nice option for next week so make that move.
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Pieter,

I’d try to have a little more patience with Lopez but if you see someone on the wire who can make a more immediate positive impact to your team, go ahead and drop him. It’s not like he’s in your starting lineup so there’s minimal risk involved here.
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sonofarthur,

There’s still plenty of time to improve in ERA and WHIP without sacrificing a top hitter via trade. The best way to accomplish this is to do some pitching or ditching, picking up hot pitchers with favorable matchups. More times than not, they’ll come through for you. Another method is to add one or two elite setup guys. In the long run, they’ll play a substantial positive role in lowering your ERA and WHIP. You can also try a combination of both of these approaches.
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Paul,

I like it. Rollins to Pedroia is a bigger upgrade than Encarnacion to Tejada is a downgrade and I’d make a Sanchez/Oswalt for Holliday/Anderson deal. Solid trade.

First off, I love your show!
I was proposed a trade: Give up Tulowitzki and get CC Sabathia.
I already have Hanley on my team, do you think I should keep Tulo just so someone else can’t have him. My staff is weak, my best arm is Felix.

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